A body cushion, comprising: a posterior portion for placement against the posterior of a user; and a pair of leg extensions integrally formed with the posterior portion and extending therefrom, the leg extensions for placement against the upper portions of the legs of the user, wherein each of the leg extensions includes extendable features which permit the leg extensions to extend and contract along a length thereof.
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1. A body cushion, comprising:
a posterior portion for placement against the posterior of a user; and a pair of leg extensions integrally formed with the posterior portion and extending therefrom, the leg extensions for placement against the upper portions of the legs of the user, wherein each of the leg extensions includes extendable features which permit the leg extensions to extend and contract along a length thereof.
8. A body cushion, comprising:
a posterior portion for placement against the posterior of a user, the posterior portion having a first end section for placement about a waist of the user and a second end section, wherein the posterior portion has an arcuate shape; and a pair of leg extensions integrally formed with the posterior portion, the second end section thereof, and extending therefrom, the leg extensions for placement against backsides of legs of the user, the leg extensions having an arcuate shape and have extendable features which permit the leg extensions to expand and contract along a length thereof.
14. A body cushion, comprising:
a posterior portion for placement against the posterior of a user, the posterior portion having a first end section for placement about a waist of the user and a second end section; a pair of leg extensions integrally formed with the posterior portion the second end section thereof and extending therefrom, the leg extensions for placement against backsides of legs of the user, the leg extensions being formed of expandable material, the leg extensions further including extendable features which permit a length thereof to be varied accordingly depending upon movement of the user; and means for securing each leg extension to one leg and the first end section of the posterior portion to the waist of the user.
2. The body cushion of
3. The body cushion of
4. The body cushion of
5. The body cushion of
9. The body cushion of
10. The body cushion of
11. The body cushion of
12. The body cushion of
13. The body cushion of
15. The body cushion of
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 60/132,367, filed on May 4, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present inventions relates generally to a seating device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a body cushion which is specially contoured for a person's body and which is particularly suited for use in a variety of sporting applications.
Over the years, it has been increasingly popular to use a portable seat cushion for support and comfort while attending and viewing sporting events in a stadium or the like, and these same seat cushions are also used by participants of sports which require prolonged periods of sitting. For example and as is known, the sports of fishing and gamesmanship (i.e., hunting), generally require the participant to sit in a set location for prolonged periods of time. Typically, this location comprises a metal seating area in a boat or a seating area in a hunting structure designed to protect and camouflage the individual from the game which is being sought. As such, the posterior of the individual is likely to become very sore by sitting on a hard surface for prolonged periods of time.
To alleviate the discomfort caused by sitting on these hard surfaces, it is common for an individual to bring a seat cushion, commonly referred to as a stadium seat. The seat cushion typically has a plastic outer coating surrounding a cushion material disposed therein. Air holes are provided in the outer coating to permit air to escape as the individual sits on the pad and the seat cushion contracts, thereby forcing air out from the center thereof. Usually, a pair of side straps are formed with and extend from the outer coating. These side straps permit the user to easily carry the seat cushion and place it in a desired location on the hard seating surface. The seat cushion is typically in the shape of a rectangle.
While the conventional seating cushions of the prior art are suitable for some uses, they suffer from the disadvantage that the seating cushions are generally not contoured to the user's body for providing extra comfort and more importantly, the seating cushions are designed to be carried by the user and then placed on the hard seating surface as the user sits down. Consequently, if the user decides to move positions or slightly rise to observe an event or an object, the seating cushion is free to become displaced from its original setting. In addition, external conditions, such as wind, can cause the seat cushion to become misplaced. This causes difficulties when the user is involved in a sport such as fishing or hunting because the user does not have much time to continually observe the position of the seating cushion as the user sits back down on the seating surface. It is desirable for a hunter or fishing participant to be able to rise from the seating surface, conduct a series of movements and then sit back down without having to worry about the location of the seating cushion.
Thus, it can be seen that it would be advantageous to have a seating cushion which is body contoured and permits the user to move without worry.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the body cushion of the present invention. The body cushion comprises a posterior portion to accommodate the posterior of a user and a pair of leg extensions which extend therefrom. According to the present invention, the posterior portion and the leg extensions are preferably contoured to the shape of the user's body so that a secure fit results when the user wears the body cushion. The body cushion is designed to be secured to the lower half of the user's body by a number of fastening devices, e.g, interlockable belts, which are disposed in the body cushion.
More specifically, a waist belt is provided at a topmost end of the posterior portion and a leg belt is provided at the bottommost end of the leg extension. The leg extensions are preferably integrally formed with the posterior portion, and in a preferred embodiment, the body cushion is formed of a closed cell foam by known processes. The posterior portion seats against the buttocks area of the user and the leg extensions seat against the backside of the user's legs.
The leg extensions include pleated portions which easily extend to permit movement of the user and to provide extended comfort and protection when the user sits down a hard seating surface with the body cushion securely affixed to the user's posterior and to the backside of the user's legs.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several FIGURES:
Referring to
Posterior portion 12 is slightly arcuate in nature, as best shown in
Posterior portion 12 has an outer surface 30 and an inner surface 32. During use, inner surface 30 is in contact with the posterior of the user and outer surface 32 faces outward from the posterior and when the user sits, outer surface 32 will contact the seating surface. Formed within outer surface 32 is a plurality of ribs 34 which reduce slipping of body cushion 10 on the seating surface when the user sits down and/or moves along the seating surface.
In accordance with the present invention, a pair of leg extensions 40 extend from posterior portion 12 and are designed to be securely positioned around the backside of each of the user's legs just above the knee. Preferably, leg extensions 40 are integrally formed with posterior portion 12, as will be described in further detail hereinafter. Each of leg extensions 40 has a first end 42 and an opposite second end 44, wherein first end 42 is preferably integral with second end 16 of posterior portion 12 and second end 44 is positioned proximate the knee on the back side of the user's legs. Leg extensions 40 are also slightly arcuate in nature and include wrap around sides 46 which position and properly locate the user's legs within leg extensions 40. In an exemplary embodiment, each of leg extensions 40 is approximately 10 inches in length. It being understood that this length is merely exemplary in nature and that the length of leg extensions 40 may be either increased or decreased accordingly.
In one aspect of the present invention, each of leg extensions 40 includes a pleated portion 48 and a lower portion 50 which is generally below the pleated portion 48. Pleated portion 48 comprises a plurality of pleats formed in leg extension 40. In an exemplary embodiment, pleated portion 48 has a normal length of approximately 6 inches and in a retracted state, pleated portion 48 extends to a length of approximately 9 inches, thus leg extension 40 is capable of extending to accommodate the movement of the user who is wearing body cushion 10. Thus, normal stretching movements which are likely encountered during movement (e.g, sitting motion, walking motion, and the like) of the user with the body cushion 10 attached to the posterior portion of the user is accommodated by the extendable pleated portion 48.
Lower portion 50 is the part of the leg extension 40 which extends below pleated portion 40 in a direction away from posterior portion 12. In a preferred embodiment, lower portion 50 does not include the plurality of pleats but instead is slightly arcuate in shape so that it is contoured to the natural shape of the legs of the user. Preferably, lower portion 50 is approximately 4 inches in length and has a thickness of about ¾ inch.
In addition, lower portion 50 also includes a plurality of slots 52 which receive a leg fastener 60 on each of the user's legs. Leg fastener 60 is preferably an adjustable belt formed of a known material. In a preferred embodiment, leg fastener 60 comprises the polyweb belt 20 shown in FIG. 7. In the embodiment, polyweb belt 60 includes an adjustable side interlocking buckle assembly. Leg fastener 60 is designed to slidingly fit within the plurality of slots 52 so that the user may easily adjust fastener 60 and the interlock buckle assembly so as to secure lower portion 50 of leg extension 60 around the user's leg.
Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment, leg extensions 40 can cover, in an extended state, approximately 13 inches of the back side of the user's legs. This advantageously provides comfort and protection of the back side of the user's legs when the user is sitting on a hard seating surface, such as metal bleacher type area.
As best shown in
Preferably and in one embodiment, posterior portion 12 has a length of about 13 inches and a width of about 18 inches. Consequently, in a non-extended state, the over all length of body cushion 10 is about 23 inches.
As best shown in
As best shown in
Body cushion 10 may be formed of a number of known materials by known processes. In an exemplary and preferred embodiment, body cushion 10 is formed of a polyvinyl chloride material using a high pressure molding process. As is known in the art, high pressure molding involves heating the material to liquid form and then injecting it into a mold. In the mold, the material expands to form body cushion 10 and then it is removed from the mold and allowed to cool. This process allows body cushion 10 to be formed in a variety of colors and thicknesses depending upon the end use and desired characteristics.
In another embodiment, body cushion 10 is formed from closed cell foams, i.e., sheet foams, using a thermal mold process. As is known, the material is initially provided in the form of sheets and it is then placed in a hot mold and is thermal molded to form body cushion 10. The foam sheets come in a variety of densities and colors, which allows the manufacturer to tailor the performance and appearance of the body cushion 10. The density of the material determines the thickness which is required. One conventional, closed cell foam is a neoprene foam. It is understood that the above-recited materials and processes are mentioned for purpose of illustration and it is within the scope of the present invention that other conventional processes and materials may be used.
While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustrations and not limitation.
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Apr 25 2000 | Colby Enterprises | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
May 01 2000 | HANKE, ROBERT C | Colby Enterprises | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 011075 | /0567 |
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